NIGHTHAWK X6AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router

Reviewers Guide

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Contact

• Please contact us with any questions, feedback, concerns

2.4GHz600 Mbps

5GHz-11300 Mbps

5GHz-21300 Mbps

Performance Test- 5GHz• Use two 3x3 802.11ac devices

simultaneously on the two 5GHz Bands• For ex:

• Netgear R6300 in bridge mode

• MacBook Pro 802.11ac (3x3)

• Any other AC1900/AC1750 802.11ac WiFi Router(DFS certified) in bridge mode

• Steps:• Ensure Smart Connect is switched off, and

separate SSID/Password is set for the two 5GHz Bands

• Manually connect the two R6300 in bridge mode to the two 5GHz Bands

• Recommend to run the Iperf or IxChariot test programs using multiple sessions instead of single sessions

• Recommended to use dedicated end point PC for each R6300 client & LAN side of R8000 for every WiFi band/ Chariot traffic pair. So total 4 PCs required for the setup shown.

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5GHz Test Setup

2.4GHz600 Mbps

5GHz-11300 Mbps

5GHz-21300 Mbps

Performance Test- 2.4GHz• Test 2.4GHz-256 QAM using a

device like Nighthawk- R7000-AC1900 (on 2.4GHz band) in bridge mode to get the best 2.4GHz performance

• 256 QAM for 2.4GHz is turned on by default on the Nighthawk-R7000

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2.4GHz Test Setup

2.4GHz600 Mbps

5GHz-11300 Mbps

5GHz-21300 Mbps

Performance Test- Stress Test• All 3 devices can be tested

simultaneously to compare the concurrent throughput across all the 3 WiFi bands

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Nighthawk X6- Performance Test

• Recommendation:• PC with an Intel Core i7 with a 2 to 4 GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, and Win7 64-bit to avoid PC being the bottleneck.

Smart Connect with Load Balancing

• To Test Smart Connect• Ensure Smart Connect is enabled. • You will only see one 5GHz Band when

Smart Connect is enabled• Take a combination of fast and slow dual

band devices and connect to 5GHz band:• iPhone- 1x1 802.11n• iPad- 2x2 802.11n• Samsung galaxy S4 (1x1 802.11ac)• Samsung galaxy S5 (2x2 802.11ac)• Apple MacBook Pro (3x3 802.11ac)• Apple MacBook Air (2x2 802.11ac)• Netgear AC routers(DFS certified) in bridge mode

• Compare 5GHz performance using Iperf or IxChariot test programs

• Run the same test with any AC1750/AC1900 WiFi router to compare performance

2.4GHz 5GHz-1 5GHz-2

This screenshot from the X6 Router GUIshows how Smart Connect has separated slower and

faster devices between the two 5GHz bands.

2 AC WiFiDevices

4 Dual-band Devices

Smart Connect with Load Balancing

• Load Balancing across the two 5GHz Bands

• When the difference in number of devices connected on a particular 5GHz band is more than 3, the 4th device (irrespective of speed) will be connected to the second 5GHz band

• For eg:

• If there are 3 devices connected on the 5GHz-1 band the fourth device will automatically be moved to 5GHz-2.

• This is to ensure both the bands are utilized.

2.4GHz 5GHz-1 5GHz-2

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Here, the Nighthawk’s control interface shows three dual-band devices connected on the same 5GHz band..

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When a fourth dual-band device joins the network,the X6 automatically connects it to the second 5GHz band, ensuring best WiFi performance for all connected devices.

Other Key Features

• Netgear genie : Client app to monitor and manage home network. • Turbo-transfer, WiFi Analytics, MyMedia

• Convert a USB Drive to Network Storage

• Easy, simple, continuous WiFi backup to shared USB drive- ReadySHARE Vault

• Central storage for easy access and sharing with MyMedia (genie app on mobile),

• DLNA & Airplay support

• Easy Secure Remote access with OpenVPN and Custom URL

More WiFi for More Devices